Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a great Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe because:

A. The cookies taste great

and

B. It is super easy to throw together and can be made by hand.

For those of you that keep your mixer on the counter top this is not a big deal. I have to store mine away in a closet so I like a recipe that can be stirred together entirely by hand.

It uses shortening (I know, I know) but the shortening actually lends to a crispy texture on the outer edges of the cookie and you can still have the soft chewy interior.

1/2 cup butter, softened but not melted

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix butter, shortening and sugars. Don't overmix~ use a heavy spoon and mix by hand. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Sift dry ingredients together. Add them to the wet mixture. Stir until JUST combined. You should still be able to see some flecks of flour in the dough. Add chocolate chips. Scoop large and equal size cookies onto parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until just starting to brown on the edges. The interior of the cookie will look under baked. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes until the cookie is "set" enough to remove without falling apart.